This composition was originally written for a German Violin Duo but somehow never got performed at that time. Fung Chern Hwei and I decided to record Escape from Reality now because its title fits our current situation pretty well. We’re all trying to find ways to deal with this unprecedented reality, and thoughts about escaping our own situations are prominent. This composition features various extended techniques from the string instruments repertoire of all different styles. Escape from Reality is a constant switch from classical moods into jazz rhythms and improvisations. It is a defense action piece, using fantasy to avoid the problems and conflicts of our respective situations at the moment. So escape with us! –G.H.

May 2020

Gregor Huebner News

Dear Friends,

I recorded 5 solo piano pieces and created an EP called, “Musical Stories from the NY Slowdown.” You can purchase the album or individual tracks on Bandcamp. I added a bunch of new tracks and albums to Bandcamp. On Friday, May 1, they are not charging artists, so Friday is a perfect day to purchase my music.

On Sunday, May 3 at 5pm ET join me for Speedwell Live, a real-time conversation with Maine writer Bill Roorbach. I’ll play music and discuss my current projects. Sign up to receive the Zoom link and password by email on the day of event.

Lastly, violinist Fung Chern Hwei and I teamed up to create a violin duo, Orthrus. Our very first single, “Escape From Reality”, will be on Bandcamp.

Featuring Sirius Quartet playing in John Woo-style slo-mo at a former Masonic hall, the vividly beautiful lithographs by André Bergeron that inspired the piece, and, of course, Ron’s can of cashews.Listen to a track from the new album.

Speedwell Live – Live, Virtual Interview and Performance Via ZoomSunday, May 3, 2020 at 5pm ETSPEEDWELL LIVE! welcomes GREGOR HUEBNER! a Grammy Nominated Composer & Violinist and winner of the Jazz “Grand Prize” New World Composers Competition of the New York Philharmonics 2017.

Gregor will be talking with Bill Roorbach and sharing musical notes and insights. Grab a drink of choice and get transported away from COVID-19 into Huebner’s beautiful world of sound. Sign up to receive the Zoom link and password by email on the day of event.

Watch Berta Epple on TV

Berta Epple was featured on SWR 1 TV show Kabarett, Comedy und Kleinkunst. We each performed in our kitchens around the globe. The producers pieced us together and the show is loads of fun to watch.

New Berta Epple Album Coming Fall 2020

Berta Epple im Casino – Die Rente ist sicher (The Pension is Secure)

The title track, Rentenbecheid (pension statement), calls for universal basic income, which is timely during these uncertain times. Listen >>

Orthrus, a double-headed hound from the Greek mythology, has reincarnated as a violin duo–one half of Sirius Quartet, Gregor Huebner and Fung Chern Hwei. They will be releasing their very first single, “Escape From Reality” on Bandcamp.

Sirius Quartet “Our First Decade”

As soon as we know if concerts are definitely happening, you’ll be the first to know!

The Official Video for Los Soñadores/Dreamers premiered on YouTube on May 4, 2018. The message of the song is as vital as ever. The initial response to the song and video was tremendous. The praise, supportive.

Watch and listen again, and share the message of unity and support for Los Soñadores/ The Dreamers of the United States. The song is the title track of Gregor Huebner’s El Violin Latino Volume 3 – Los Soñadores (“The Dreamers”) available worldwide. Learn more about the album.

Speedwell Live welcomes GREGOR HUEBNER, a Grammy Nominated Composer & Violinist and winner of the Jazz “Grand Prize” New World Composers Competition of the New York Philharmonics 2017. Gregor will be talking with Maine writer Bill Roorbach and sharing musical notes and insights. Grab a drink of choice and get transported away from COVID-19 into Huebner’s beautiful world of sound. The real-time conversation takes place on Sunday, May 3, 2020 at 5pm ET. Click HEREto receive the Zoom link and password by email on the day of event.

Celebrated by audiences and critics alike for his visionary work across genres, Gregor’s realm of contributions and achievements are unmatched and have gained him an international reputation and following.

The Wall Street Journal calls it “impassioned and dreamy.” And that is describing just one album of many and many compositions that integrate improvisation, experimental notation, traditional counterpoint, pop song structures, post-tonal gestures and innovative performance techniques within formal compositional frameworks.

photo credit: Marcela Joya

Grammy Nominated Composer & Violinist and “Grand Prize” winner New World Composers Competition of the New York Philharmonics 2017

Gregor Huebner is an award-winning composer and violinist, celebrated by audiences and critics alike for his visionary work across genres. His music has been described by The New York City Jazz Record as “challenging and vivid… seamlessly incorporat[ing] chamber elements with Avant Garde Jazz.” Huebner’s recent El Violin Latino, an album exploring the role of the violin in traditional Latin American music, was praised by The Wall Street Journalas “by turns sexy and sly, impassioned and dreamy, his collection of well-known tunes, unexpected arrangements and original compositions brings together far-flung members of the fiddle diaspora.”

Gregor’s compositions integrate improvisation, experimental notation, traditional counterpoint, pop song structures, post-tonal gestures and innovative performance techniques within formal compositional frameworks. Recent commissions include “Six Songs of Innocence,” a lyrical setting of poems by William Blake premiered by Sirius Quartet an acclaimed contemporary string ensemble of which he is a long-time member. The quartet was praised by The New York Times for their “versatility and flair with lively improvisations.” His collaborations with Richie Beirach and George Mraz have yielded three critically acclaimed albums, including the Latin Grammy-nominated Round About Federico Mompou. Gregor was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and is based in Harlem in New York City.

April 2020

Gregor Huebner News

Dear Friends,

I hope you all are well and in a safe place. Many things have happened since my last news update. I am in New York City with my family, practicing the violin and trying to compose almost like when I was studying music.

I am working remotely with my composition students in Munich.

On Thursday, April 23 Berta Epple will be on SWR 1 TV show Kabarett, Comedy und Kleinkunst at 20-24:00. Berta Epple will be streaming from home.

All of my live shows are on hold. During this down time I am composing, practicing and recording some new pieces.

I always wanted to record some of my songs I composed over the years on solo piano. These times and all the talk about social distancing gave me the idea of doing these recordings now.

New from Navona Records comes AND THE SNOW DID LIE, composed by Hilary Tann and performed by Sirius Quartet. Tann, a Welsh-born composer living in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains was inspired to write this commissioned work by a series of illustrations from the classic French-Canadian novel, Le Survenant. These images are included with the release of this digital single.

The music of AND THE SNOW DID LIE is broken into three movements, each depicting a season in the bleak northern landscape. Each of these is further broken into distinct sections. The first movement evokes the wasteland of late autumn with an murmuring drone pierced by the shrill voice of decay. The music develops to demonstrate both moments of startling intensity and deep tenderness. The second movement imagines the gentle snowfall of winter. Here, especially, the Sirius Quartet exhibits their sensitivity to the silences between the notes. Finally, the work concludes with a third movement that conjures up the floods of springtime with shivering tremolos, lyrical lines, and echoes of the previous textures.

AND THE SNOW DID LIE is a multimedia artwork to be appreciated by both the eyes and the ears. The powerful combination of Tann’s expressive lyricism paired with Bergeron’s master-lithography performed by the formidable skill and precision of the Sirius Quartet make this new digital single an event not to be missed.

The Official Video for Los Soñadores/Dreamers premiered on YouTube on May 4, 2018. The message of the song is as vital as ever. The initial response to the song and video was tremendous. The praise, supportive.

Watch and listen again, and share the message of unity and support for Los Soñadores/ The Dreamers of the United States. The song is the title track of Gregor Huebner’s El Violin Latino Volume 3 – Los Soñadores (“The Dreamers”) available worldwide. Learn more about the album.

I always wanted to record some of my songs I composed over the years on solo piano. These times and all the talk about social distancing gave me the idea of doing these recordings now. I wanted to be more prepared then this, but recording one song a day lets me look forward and makes me feel optimistic about life. There will be mostly piano pieces but I also will work with my loop station on the violin. I hope you like to take part on this progress as well.

I will post all the new recordings in this curated youtube playlist, plus you also can find some of my favorite videos we did over the last couple of years.

I hope you all are well and in a safe place. Many things have happened since my last news update. I am happily in New York City with my family, practicing the violin almost like when I was studying music and trying to compose.

It seems like a breather from all the crazy traveling, but it is also unsettling and I feel the future will be very different.

Music, theater, and art are so important during these times and that is why I keep on doing it to keep a balance in my life.

I hope you have time to listen to music you always wanted to hear or read a book or do some drawing instead of watching the news all the time, which can be tempting.

Wish you all this time to reflect and a way to deal with the reset.

I am trying to pull together some small musical postings, so stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram.

Surprisingly, a new CD of Sirius Quartet playing the music of Hillary Tann, arrived in the mail today. Listen to this new music, and find joy and support in all the arts!

March 2020

Gregor Huebner News

I am very proud that my composition In the News won First Prize at the Jugend Musiziert competition in Round 1. The piece was written for the new music ensemble of the Filum Music School in Filderstadt. Wish them luck as they perform in the State competition this month.

Sirius Quartet is celebrating the 10th year of our current lineup with a series of performances in New York City, presenting their past repertoire in chronological order. The first performance is at Club Bonafide on March 13, 2020.

As always, it would be a great pleasure to see you at one of my upcoming performances!

The year 2020 marks the 10th year of the current lineup of Sirius Quartet, which founding member Ron Lawrence named “Our best lineup so far”. The four musicians brought in individual styles of playing, writing and improvisation into the group and created their very own brand of inimitable music —- an extension of progressive chamber music started by the likes of the great Turtle Island Quartet and Kronos Quartet. To celebrate this milestone, Sirius is organizing a series of performances in New York City, presenting their past repertoire in chronological order. This performance in Club Bonafide will be the first performance of this series, repertoire will include Gregor Huebner’s String Quartet No.3 (“New York Suite”), among other signature Sirius Quartet pieces.

My New Composition, “In The News” Wins First Prize in Round 1 at the Jugend Musiziert Competition

Very proud!! The premiere of my composition “In the News,” written for the new music ensemble of the Filum Music School in Filderstadt, won first prize at the Jugend Musiziert competition in Round 1. Watch the video >>

The Official Video for Los Soñadores/Dreamers premiered on YouTube on May 4, 2018. The message of the song is as vital as ever. The initial response to the song and video was tremendous. The praise, supportive.

Watch and listen again, and share the message of unity and support for Los Soñadores/ The Dreamers of the United States. The song is the title track of Gregor Huebner’s El Violin Latino Volume 3 – Los Soñadores (“The Dreamers”) available worldwide. Learn more about the album.

Gregor Huebner and Uri Caine: BEETHOVEN PASTORAL PROJECT

2020 is the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven. Together with Uri Cain, I created a video and took part in the Beethoven Pastoral Project. Artists from all around the world were invited to make a cultural statement for environmental protection. Watch the video >>

The Official Video for Los Soñadores/Dreamers premiered on YouTube on May 4, 2018. The message of the song is as vital as ever. The initial response to the song and video was tremendous. The praise, supportive.

Watch and listen again, and share the message of unity and support for Los Soñadores/ The Dreamers of the United States. The song is the title track of Gregor Huebner’s El Violin Latino Volume 3 – Los Soñadores (“The Dreamers”) available worldwide. Learn more about the album.

Great, incredible work to all the participants the music, the lyrics, the design, the photographs and the way in which all these talents come together only lets me see how together we achieve wonderful things without dividing ourselves and without borders we are bigger. I dream of you, I dream of the Dreamers that we are one world where there are only people of the world without countries or borders. Thanks for this gift.

Excellent work, in all its aspects. The message and content of the song and video, will achieve its goal of supporting more firmly, the great social causes that benefit everyone. Congratulations to Richie Brinez, for their work and dedication Congratulations also to the entire group of Gregor Huebner.

Kid great love the arrangement..! and the afinacio of that girl.. Tremendous Musicians, are of respect. Greetings from vnzla.

Hector Mejias

Sorry I’ve taken so long to comment on this terrific video! Inspired writing & soulful playing by Gregor Huebner, & singing by Yumarya Grijt. Great seeing my former student, Klaus Müller, & happy to hear he hasn’t forgotten his “guajeo” lessons! Also nice to see my former co-professors @ Boys Harbor, Jerome Goldschmidt & Louie Bauzo! Last but not least, one of my favorite bassists, John “Baby Huey” Benítez! I’m sure he cringes whenever someone mentions his teenage “apodo!” I’m not familiar w. the drummer, but he has avery appropriate given name!

"Gregor Huebner's violin brings a yearning passion to both the music of Eastern Europe and the sounds of Latin America ... but it is in his tunes that his enthusiasm and care for tradition truly bursts forth."
-- The New York City Jazz Record
November 2016